Football League World
·18 décembre 2024
Football League World
·18 décembre 2024
FLW's Boro fan pundit has spoken on the future of Emmanuel Latte Lath.
This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...
Middlesbrough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath is set to be the subject of transfer interest during the upcoming January window.
The 25-year-old has scored 24 goals in the Championship since the beginning of last season, and it seems as though his agent, Matthias Veneroso, is expecting offers to come in for him next month.
"He is back to scoring," Veneroso told TuttoMercatoWeb.
"Eight goals in the first half of the Championship and we expect something to happen in January.
"He is a striker and strikers are always the subject of attention in the January market."
The Ivorian, who joined Boro from Italian side Atalanta in 2023, was the subject of a £20 million bid from Ipswich Town on deadline day at the end of the summer transfer window, which was eventually turned down by the Teessiders.
Given his recent form though, it would not be a huge surprise if Latte Lath had his sights set on a move to the Premier League after the turn of the year, and it has been reported that the Tractor Boys and West Ham have both asked the question of the 25-year-old, as per TuttoMercatoWeb.
We asked our Middlesbrough fan pundit, Jasper Hudson, what kind of bids he expects to come in for Latte Lath during the January transfer window, and whether he thinks the club will cash in on the striker midway through the season.
"It would be naive to think that there won't be any bids coming in for him, because he is a good player," Jasper told FLW.
"His performances probably warrant some interest, and I think most of that will probably come from struggling Premier League sides.
"Southampton, Ipswich, Leicester, Everton, Crystal Palace, and potentially even West Ham, with Antonio out - they will be the sort of clubs to make bids.
"Mostly, they will be in the region of £10-15 million. I think we will just need to assess the situation and see what happens. Obviously, his agent is talking.
"It would be bad to lose him. Not the worst thing, but it would hinder our season, I think.
Despite the deadline day drama which might have seen him leave Middlesbrough in the summer, Latte Lath has been in good form in the Championship during the 2024/25 campaign so far.
Only Preston North End forward Milutin Osmajic has a higher xG per 90 in the second tier, showing that Latte Lath is regularly getting himself in the right positions to find goalscoring opportunities.
It will be interesting to see what happens during the January transfer window, but if Latte Lath does leave the Riverside Stadium, it is important that some of the transfer fee is spent on a new striker to ensure that there is still quality competition for Tommy Conway.